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David Trimble - Courageous in the face of opposition to Good Friday Agreement

David Trimble was a key architect of the Good Friday Agreement
David Trimble was a key architect of the Good Friday Agreement

David Trimble, who has died aged 77, was a surprise appointment as Ulster Unionist leader.

A hardliner in the 1970s, the bitter Drumcree parade dispute early in his leadership, in which he played a prominent role, set nationalists against him.

In private though he was a pragmatist, and considered the 1998 Good Friday Agreement the pinnacle of his political career.